Did You Know?

The marble slab that was eventually turned into the sculpture of “David” (1504) by Michelangelo was cut 43 years earlier, for an artist named Agostino di Duccio, who planned to turn it into a statue of Hercules. Di Duccio abandoned his sculpture, which was originally to be installed in a Florentine cathedral, because of the flaws in the stone. The marble was unused for 10 years until another sculptor, Antonio Rossellino, decided to work with it. Rossellino also abandoned his work because he found marble too difficult to sculpt. Michelangelo began work on his sculpture in 1501. Had he hit it just once in the wrong place—the entire piece would have shattered.